Training
You've probably read a lot about how important it is to have a core of steel. And you've probably also come across plenty of differing opinions on what the best way to achieve this is.
Some say that squats and deadlifts will build all the core strength you'll ever need. Others will tell you that the best way to strengthen your core is to spend time on the Swiss Ball, BOSU Ball or other unstable surfaces.
The term 'core' causes a lot of confusion, mainly because everyone seems to have a different opinion on what exactly it means
For most people, the term midsection is simply another name for the abdominal muscles. But in reality, this term refers to a much larger set of muscles that stabilize the spine. These muscles work together to keep the spine as neutral as possible, which corresponds to its natural curved shape.
A neutral spine is not a single position that your spine never moves away from. Rather, think of it as a neutral zone or area where your spine can move while remaining relatively healthy. A lack of spinal stability can lead to movement that is outside of this zone, which in turn increases the risk of pain and/or tissue damage.
When we talk about stability, what we really mean is that we want the lower back - the lumbar spine - to move as little as possible when subjected to stress. This small range of motion is called the neutral zone. The smaller it is, the greater the stability of your core.
When muscles contract, they generate stiffness. Muscle stiffness not only stabilizes the spine and reduces the risk of tissue damage, but is also a necessity when it comes to optimal athletic performance.
A 'stiff' core is particularly important for sports that rely on strength, speed and quickness. When the core is mentioned in this context (i.e. as a pathway for transmitting force), the term usually refers to the muscles of the trunk and hips - basically anything that doesn't fall under the head, arms or legs.
This is much more than just abs and lower back and extends from your shoulders to the biceps femoris - the leg flexor that crosses the hip (2, 9).
Does training on an unstable surface lead to greater activation of the core muscles?
Performing exercises on an unstable surface, such as sitting on a Swiss Ball or standing on a BOSU Ball, is said to place a greater emphasis on activating some of the muscles of your core, which should help to increase core stability, protect against back pain, improve athletic performance, etc.
Such exercises often appear to be much harder than their more stable counterparts. This is mainly because you have to work so hard to maintain balance. And due to the fact that you are not used to these exercises, they often generate the impression that they are superior to the same exercises performed on the floor.
There is scientific research that shows that an exercise performed on an unstable surface leads to greater activity in the muscles of the core compared to the same exercise performed on the floor (2).
Squats with a light weight performed standing on two inflatable discs, for example, lead to greater activation of the muscles of the trunk than squats performed standing directly on the floor (1).
However, a major limitation of many of these studies is that they involve the use of relatively light weights. This is a problem because most people can move a much heavier weight if they are swaying back and forth on the floor rather than on an unstable surface.
What happens when you compare differences in muscle activity that take into account the fact that you can move more weight on a stable surface than on an unstable surface?
This is exactly what scientists at Eastern Illinois University wanted to find out (7). They looked at muscle activation in a group of 12 trained men who performed four different exercises - deadlifts, overhead squats and barbell curls - at two different intensities (50% of 1RM weight and 75% of 1RM weight) while standing on a stable or an unstable surface (BOSU BALL).
Muscle activity in the abdominal muscles and lower back muscles was not significantly different when subjects performed deadlifts, squats, overhead presses and barbell curls with a light weight on a BOSU ball instead of standing on the floor.
There were also no significant differences in muscle activity in the external lateral abdominal muscles and lower back muscles for all four exercises between performing the exercises with 75% of the 1RM weight on a stable surface and performing the exercises with 50% of the 1RM weight on an unstable surface.
However, when overhead presses were performed on a stable surface using heavier weights, the rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle) worked significantly harder than when performing the same exercise with a lighter weight on a BOSU ball.
Performed on a stable surface, overhead presses and barbell curls also provided useful stimulation (40 to 50% of maximum spontaneous contraction - MVC for maximum voluntary contraction) to the deeper abdominal muscles.
Instability has its place and its justification. Some exercises use instability, for example, to emphasize the muscles of the core. Physiotherapists have also been using unstable surfaces for years to support rehabilitation training for knee and ankle injuries (10).
However, for many exercises, training with a lighter weight on an unstable surface will not make the core muscles work harder than performing the same exercises with a heavier weight on a stable surface.
Are squats and deadlifts all you need to train your core?
Squats and deadlifts will make all other direct ab workouts completely redundant, as these two exercises will provide all the stimulation your abs will ever need. At least that's the theory, but the science shows a different picture.
Squats and deadlifts work many muscles of the core, but these are mainly the muscles of your back - and in particular the back extensors that run parallel to the spine on the right and left. In fact, squats and deadlifts train the back extensors better than pelvic lifts, side bridges and back extension exercises performed on a Swiss ball (3, 6).
Especially during deadlifts, the back extensors work very hard to keep your spine in its natural arched position. The main reason why powerlifters have such well-developed back extensors is because these muscles have to do so much work when performing classic powerlifting exercises to prevent flexion of the spine.
Squats and deadlifts are good for developing the posterior muscles of the core. The quadratus lumborum, a small but important muscle in the lower back that helps stabilize the spine, is also intensely worked during deadlifts (4).
However, none of these exercises do much for the muscles of the front of the midsection - the abs.
The illustration below is from Dr. Jeffrey McBride, a professor of biomechanics at Appalachian State University. Dr. McBride studied the activation of the anterior abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis) of trained strength athletes performing a series of different exercises.
As you can see, squats and deadlifts don't work the rectus abdominis very hard - even if you're using a heavy weight in the 80-90% of your 1RNM weight range. In fact, overhead presses activate the rectus abdominis more than both deadlifts and squats (7). However, even this activation is relatively low compared to rollouts or curl-ups (in the region of 10% of maximum spontaneous contraction (MVC)).
Similar results were observed in a study that included a group of elite male rugby players as subjects (11). These were quite strong guys who were in the advanced and very advanced range in terms of squat strength. They were therefore not the typical "untrained beginners" who often serve as test subjects in such studies.
The scientists measured muscle activity in the abdominal muscles during squats, overhead squats and various abdominal exercises. In this study too, the abdominal muscles did not have to work very hard during squats - only 10% of their maximum. The scientists were able to observe greater activation of the abdominal muscles even during planks, sit-ups and jackknives.
A person who can perform standing shoulder presses with their own body weight and deadlifts with twice their body weight will have already developed a very high level of core strength simply by focusing on getting stronger at both exercises. However, for full core development, squats, deadlifts and presses are not enough - you will need additional exercises that train the abdominal muscles directly.
While I'm on the subject of core training, I'd like to briefly mention the topic of spinal rotation
Probably the most popular spinal rotation exercise is the torso twist with a broomstick on the shoulders, which is also undoubtedly the most pointless exercise ever invented.
This is not to say that it is not necessary to train the muscles that rotate the torso, but there are far better ways to do this than rotating the torso from side to side with a broomstick on your back.
Instead of pure rotation, you should use resistance to rotation. And by resistance to rotation, I mean exercises that require you to overcome forces that try to pull your torso in the opposite direction.
Let's take one-arm dumbbell rowing as an example. Although this is primarily an exercise to train the muscles of the back, the lateral abdominal muscles are also involved. This is because these muscles actively prevent your torso from rotating during the rowing movement.
The same principle applies to other one-arm exercises such as the one-arm shoulder press. I recently injured my shoulder, which meant I couldn't do a heavy workout with my left arm. However, I wanted to continue training my right side using the principle of 'cross education' (where training with one side of the body has a small but significant effect on the strength of the other side of the body).
So I continued to do some heavy shoulder presses with my right arm. The next day I could clearly feel the muscles on the left side of my torso. This was due to the fact that they had to work extremely hard to keep me upright during the one-arm shoulder press.
This is a much more efficient use of your training time than a few sets of side bends, which also fall into the "poor use of your time in the gym" category.
Long Lever Plank Shoulder Taps(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oclnkXkq8sw) are another good example of what I mean by this. In the starting position, you resist extension of your spine (flexion of the back), which makes this exercise particularly effective for training the rectus abdominis. Removing one of the contact points (your hand) from the floor introduces an element of instability that requires your body to actively resist rotation. If you find this exercise too difficult, keep your hands in a push-up position under your shoulders instead of in front of your body.
Exercises that involve resistance to rotation are a far better choice than those exercises like Russiuan Twists(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkD8rjkodUI) that involve actual rotation, which send a shiver down my spine every time I see someone doing them.
If you have a history of back injuries or if you have a healthy and pain-free back and want to keep it that way, then I can only highly recommend that you avoid any exercise that involves this type of movement.
Remember that many muscles of the core can be trained very effectively by preventing a movement rather than performing an actual movement. You can still train the muscles involved in spinal rotation, but you do so in a way that poses less risk to your spine. An exercise does not have to involve actual rotation to train the muscles responsible for rotation.
This doesn't mean you should avoid rotation completely. However, you should make sure that the movement comes from the hips and that the hips and back can move together at the same time as if they were firmly connected.
Conclusion
Building a steel core doesn't have to be complicated, time-consuming or boring. And it doesn't require training on a Swiss Ball, a BOSU Ball or any other surface that isn't the floor.
Many muscles in your core work very hard to prevent movement of the spine during exercises such as squats, deadlifts, one-arm rows, rollouts and standing presses. These exercises not only build core strength, but also full body strength.
References
- Anderson K, Behm DG. (2005). Trunk muscle activity increases with unstable squat movements. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 30, 33-45 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15855681
- Behm DG, Drinkwater EJ, Willardson JM, Cowley PM. (2010). The use of instability to train the core musculature. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism, 35, 91-108 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20130672
- Hamlyn N, Behm DG, Young WB. (2007). Trunk muscle activation during dynamic weight-training exercises and isometric instability activities. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21, 1108-1112 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18076231
- McGill SM. (1997). Distribution of tissue loads in the low back during a variety of daily and rehabilitation tasks. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 34, 448-458 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9323648
- McGill S, Juker D, Kropf P. (1996). Quantitative intramuscular myoelectric activity of quadratus lumborum during a wide variety of tasks. Clinical Biomechanics, 11, 170-172 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11415616
- Nuzzo JL, McCaulley GO, Cormie P, Cavill MJ, McBride JM. (2008). Trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18296961
- Willardson JM, Fontana FE, Bressel E. (2009). Effect of surface stability on core muscle activity for dynamic resistance exercises. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 4, 97-109 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19417231
- McGill SM, McDermott A, Fenwick CM. (2009). Comparison of different strongman events: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23, 1148-1161 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19528856
- Behm DG, Drinkwater EJ, Willardson JM, Cowley PM. (2010). Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position stand: The use of instability to train the core in athletic and nonathletic conditioning. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35, 109-112 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20130673
- Behm D, Colado JC. (2012). The effectiveness of resistance training using unstable surfaces and devices for rehabilitation. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 7, 226-241 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22530196
- Aspe RR, Swinton PA. (2014). Electromyographic and kinetic comparison of the back squat and overhead squat. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28, 2827-2836 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24662228
If you want to know how you can best use cardio training while fasting to lose fat as quickly as possible, then you should read this article
"Cardio training on an empty stomach burns more fat". This is one of the headlines you'll read every spring/summer in numerous mainstream fitness magazines. At the same time, you'll read articles with titles like "Fat loss myth disproved: Cardio Training on an Empty Stomach." claiming the exact opposite.
So who is right? As is so often the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Doing cardio on an empty stomach won't necessarily help you lose fat faster, BUT doing cardio while fasting can help you lose fat - and especially stubborn fat - faster. And the latter is especially true when combined with other fat loss strategies, which I will discuss later.
Cardio training while fasting is a double-edged sword. Do your cardio training incorrectly when fasting and you won't lose fat any faster. Instead, you will lose muscle, which is a perfect way to achieve a skinny fat look.
I'll cover all of this in this article and here's what you'll learn about the simple science of fasted cardio:
- What fasting cardio training is (and isn't)
- How fasted cardio can help you lose fat faster
- Why fasted cardio training can cause muscle loss
- How you can maximize the benefits of fasted cardio (fat burning) and minimize its disadvantages (catabolism)
- Which types of cardio training are best when fasting
By the end of this article, you'll know how to use fasted cardio to accelerate your fat loss without sacrificing muscle.
My experience with fasted cardio training
I have managed to lose weight both with and without the fasting cardio training strategies described in this article - and I have to say that it is noticeably faster with the help of these strategies.
With the help of these strategies, I recently managed to reduce my body fat percentage from 11 to 7% within 10 weeks without losing any muscle mass. So in addition to the scientific research we will be looking at in this article, I also have practical experience and because of this positive experience, fasted cardio has become an important part of my fat loss program.
What is fasting cardio training?
Most people equate "cardio training on an empty stomach" with "cardio training in a fasted state" - and this is a mistake, because they are not necessarily one and the same.
Your stomach may be empty when you do cardio training in a fasted state, but not all cardio training on an empty stomach falls under the heading of cardio training in a fasted state.
Let's take a closer look at this statement. First of all, we need the correct definition of fasting cardio training, which is as follows:
Cardio training in a fasted state is cardio training performed in a fasted state.
That sounds simple. And what exactly is a fasted state? Well, to understand this, we need to look at what your body does when you eat food. When you eat a meal, your body breaks that food down into different molecules such as amino acids and glucose as part of the digestive process.
Your small intestine absorbs these nutrients into your bloodstream, where they meet the hormone insulin. The job of insulin is to transport these nutrients into the cells for use. How long this takes and how long your insulin levels remain elevated depends on the composition of the meal (1).
This results in two possible states:
- When your body processes the food you have eaten, you are in a postprandial state (nourished state after a food intake). In this state, your insulin levels are higher than normal.
- As soon as your body has completed its task and digested the meal, it enters a fasting state. In such a fasting state, your insulin levels are low and at the baseline level.
As you can see, your body switches back and forth between these states several times a day - and as you have probably already correctly deduced, this goes beyond how "empty" your stomach is.
Many people will have the feeling of an 'empty stomach' as soon as an hour after their last meal, whereas for others this is only the case after 2 or 3 hours. For this reason, I want you to think in terms of "postprandial/nourished or fasting state" instead of "full or empty".
Let's apply this to cardio training:
- Cardio done when your body is processing food and insulin levels are high is cardio done in a postprandial/nourished state.
- Cardio training performed when your body is no longer processing food and insulin levels are low is cardio training in a fasted state.
Now that we've covered some of the basics, let's take a look at what all this has to do with fat loss.
Fasting cardio and fat loss: the good and the bad
Many people turn to fasted cardio (or what they think of as fasted cardio) because it sounds easy. You don't have to do any other workouts or cut calories further or use any supplements. You simply change the timing of your workouts and hope to lose fat faster.
In reality, however, it's not quite that simple...
Neither cardio training in a fasted state nor any other type of training will accelerate your fat loss if you don't know what you're doing with your diet. The laws of thermodynamics are immutable. At the end of the day, fat loss requires an energy or calorie deficit regardless of your workouts - and this means you need to know how much energy you're burning and how many calories you're eating.
There is nothing wrong with cardio training in a postprandial/nourished state
All exercise burns calories and this helps you burn fat regardless of whether your insulin levels are high or low. If cardio exercise in a fasted state doesn't suit your schedule or lifestyle, or you simply don't like it, then don't force yourself to do it. You can still achieve your goals.
However, fasted cardio has some unique fat loss benefits. Studies show that training in a fasted state increases both the rate of lipolysis and the rate of fat oxidation (2, 3). Lipolysis is the breakdown of fat to release fatty acids, which are then used to provide energy for the body. Fat oxidation is the burning of these fatty acids by the body's cells.
These studies show that if you exercise while your insulin levels are at baseline, your body is able to both mobilize more fat and burn more fat than when insulin levels are elevated.
Studies also show that blood flow in the abdominal area is increased when fasting (4). This is important because one of the problems with stubborn fat in this region is reduced blood flow. Less blood flow means fewer fat-burning chemicals and therefore less fat breakdown in this region.
So much for the benefits, but what about the disadvantages of fasted state cardio?
Well, training in a fasted state also has a dark side: it increases the rate of muscle breakdown (5). These effects may not be directly catastrophic, but considering the fact that natural muscle building is slow and laborious, they are enough to matter.
Just in case you're not sure why this isn't desirable, here's a simple explanation: if you damage a lot of muscle cells during your training sessions, your body won't keep up with the repair. This means less muscle growth or even muscle loss over time.
Another disadvantage of training in a fasted state is lackluster training sessions. Many people have less energy and focus when exercising in a fasted state. This means lower levels of physical and mental intensity than they are used to.
As you can see, training in a fasted state can be a double-edged sword. It's good for losing fat faster, but not so good for maintaining existing muscle mass and enjoying your workouts.
What about training with weights in a fasted state?
Training with weights in a fasted state is just as effective as cardio training in a fasted state as it dramatically increases your body's production of fat-burning chemicals (6). When I define, I do all my workouts with weights and all my cardio workouts in a fasted state.
However, there can be a catch: If you go from training in a postprandial/nourished state to training in a fasted state, then you'll likely be weaker during the first few weeks. I usually manage a few less reps on my heavier basic exercises and sometimes on one or two of my smaller exercises, but this is completely normal and nothing to worry about.
This is not because you are losing muscle, but because eating a good amount of carbohydrates before training can boost your performance (7). Cut out these carbohydrates and you lose that boost. Add them back in and the boost is back.
What's more, scientific research has shown that your body can adapt to training in a fasted state by learning to use its glycogen stores more efficiently. But despite this fact, my fasting workouts are never as good as usual.
Ways to burn more fat with fasted cardio training
Fasting cardio training is often criticized by fitness experts for having little practical value. These people don't dispute the facts already mentioned, but they say that it won't make much difference in practice.
And here they have a valid argument. Scientific research shows that cardio training in a fasted state doesn't burn much more fat on its own (9). However, if you combine fasted cardio training with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and a few supplements, the effects will be much more pronounced. And these effects will be particularly noticeable if you are at the end of a definition phase and still need to lose some stubborn fat.
Let's take a look at why this is the case.
Perform HIIT cardio training in a fasted state
High-intensity interval training is an excellent training method that alternates between periods of near-maximal intensity and low-intensity recovery periods.
The idea is simple:
- During your high-intensity phases, you push yourself as hard as you can.
- During your low-intensity phases, you try to catch your breath in preparation for the next sprint.
And why would you do this to yourself? There are two reasons:
You will lose fat faster with HIIT cardio
A large body of scientific research shows that high-intensity interval training is a more effective way to lose fat than traditional cardio training at a low, consistent intensity. For example, a study conducted by scientists at the University of Western Ontario found that subjects who performed 4 to 6 30-second sprints (with 4 minutes of rest) burned more fat than walking on an incline treadmill for 60 minutes (10).
If you ask me, that's pretty impressive. 17 to 27 minutes of high-intensity interval training resulted in greater fat loss than 60 minutes of traditional bodybuilder cardio. And this was not an isolated study result - similar results were also observed in a number of other studies.
The scientific evidence is clear: if your goal is to burn as much fat as possible in the shortest possible time, HIIT is the way to go.
Although the exact underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood, scientists have isolated some factors. Scientific research (11) shows that HIIT:
- Increases metabolic rate for up to 24 hours.
- Improves the insulin sensitivity of the muscles. This helps the body to better absorb and use the food you eat (instead of storing it as fat).
- Increases the muscles' ability to burn fat for energy.
- Increases the body's growth hormone levels, which aids fat loss.
- Increases catecholamine levels. Catecholamines are the body's own messenger substances that mobilize fat for the purpose of burning it.
- Reduces appetite after exercise, which helps prevent overeating.
The bottom line is that if you want to get the most value for your efforts in terms of fat loss, you should do HIIT cardio training. And if you do this type of training in a fasted state, it is even more effective as many of the physiological mechanisms associated with fat loss work better in a low insulin environment.
In the second part of this article, I will first discuss how HIIT training can not only help you lose more fat, but also protect your muscles more effectively from diet-induced muscle loss. I will then go into more detail about planning your diet and supplements before showing you how to put what you have learned into practice using a specific example plan.
Source: HTTPS://LEGIONATHLETICS.COM/FASTED-CARDIO/
By Michael Matthews
Don't judge a training session by its length
How long do your training sessions last? Don't answer that. It doesn't really matter. Here's why
Stop putting unnecessary time limits on your training sessions. The energy demands of a training session are related to the volume of work performed, not the duration of the session. Someone who performs 30 sets of 10 repetitions in a 60-minute training session will use more energy than someone who performs 15 sets of 10 repetitions in a 90-minute training session. The first exerciser will have higher cortisol levels after their training session than the second exerciser, even if their training session was shorter.
What about the testosterone to cortisol ratio?
A lot of trainers have preached the value of keeping workouts under an hour in duration. They often cite Bulgarian weightlifters who break up their daily training volume into several 30 to 45 minute sections. They say that this regimen was developed to optimize the testosterone to cortisol ratio and that training for longer durations lowers testosterone levels while increasing cortisol levels. The problem? This logic comes from a weightlifting nation that has been disqualified multiple times from international competitions because the entire team (or at least most of the team) failed a drug test. Call me cynical, but I find it hard to buy the "we want to keep our testosterone levels high" argument when it comes from athletes who inject ten times the physiological weekly dose of testosterone every day!
Antonio Krastev even went so far as to say that Abadjiev decided to segment the training to better control where the weightlifters were when they were at training camps and that maintaining optimal hormone levels had nothing to do with it. It is the volume that plays a greater role in the testosterone to cortisol ratio after training. Cortisol is released during exercise to help release stored energy for muscle contractions - and the more energy you need during a training session, the more cortisol your body will release.
Volume, mTor and glycogen
Excessive training volume can impair mTor activation. Increased cortisol levels are in themselves a factor that reduces mTor activation - and the same applies to depletion of glycogen stores. Depleting glycogen stores increases AMPK levels, which in turn inhibits mTor activation. In this context, remember that mTor is the switch that activates protein synthesis(muscle building). So it's true that too much training volume during a training session can hinder your gains - but it's not the training duration itself that's responsible for this.
Some of my training sessions can last 90 to 120 minutes. This happens when I have two different Olympic weightlifting exercises in my training session and perform plenty of warm-up sets to get my technique solid for the day. However, neither of these warm-up sets will use much glycogen as they only last less than 10 seconds each. So even if my training session is long, it doesn't mean that my hormonal milieu will be catabolic.
The 45 to 60 minute limit just allows a lot of personal trainers to squeeze more paying clients into their workday. Don't try to stretch your workouts out over several hours, but think more in terms of volume than duration.
- TIP: Stop training slowly
- TIP: Some exercisers truly believe in moving light weights as slowly as possible until muscle failure. They are lean and weak. Here's why.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-stop-training-slow
Methods for slow training have been around since the early eighties. Even today, there are still people "rediscovering" this idea or trying to reinvent it by using a slightly different training format. But for the most part, this training strategy is no good. It was no good in 1983 and it's no good today.
What is Super Slow Training?
Super slow training means performing an exercise using a very slow speed of movement in both concentric and eccentric phases. Advocates of this technique generally recommend a tempo of 5 seconds for the concentric (lifting) phase of the movement and 5 seconds for the eccentric (lowering) phase, but some super slow trainers even recommend up to 10 seconds to perform a single phase of the movement for each repetition. And they recommend using this speed to perform each set to muscle failure.
However, this training method has major drawbacks and I don't recommend it. But here's what fans of this method will tell you:
- If you go to muscle failure, then it doesn't matter what weight you use. Even if you use baby weights, it doesn't matter because the load is irrelevant as long as you go to muscle failure using the super slow speed of movement.
- If you move the weight slowly during the concentric phase, then you minimize or even completely negate momentum. Therefore, muscle contractions must do all the work during every inch of the movement. On the other hand, if you try to accelerate the weight, the momentum can reduce muscle activity at the top of the movement (since the weight has momentum, you don't need as much force to move it further up).
- If you lower the weight slowly, then you activate mTor to a greater extent, which can be a potent activator of protein synthesis (muscle building).
- Very slow movements are safer as less force is produced.
But where are the muscular bodies?
If the Super Slow method was so effective, then we would see results. To date, it should have produced numerous muscular and strong people. But we haven't heard of these people because they don't exist. We simply don't see muscular or strong people who have built their bodies exclusively using Super Slow Training - at least nothing like what more traditional training methods have produced. While Super Slow may sound promising in theory and in the context of lab studies, it doesn't work in the real world.
Why Super Slow is a no-go
1 - Super Slow doesn't make you much stronger
The same studies that show that training to muscle failure leads to the same gains in muscle mass regardless of the weight used, also showed that strength gains were much lower when using lighter weights. You may call me old-school, but to get more muscular, you need to get significantly stronger at the same time. Of course, people at the lower end of the muscle development scale may not need big strength gains to build some muscle, but to get really muscular you need to move heavy weights.
I don't know any very muscular people who aren't also strong. They may not be as strong as powerlifters, but they can move a good amount of weight. Once you have a lot of muscle, you may not have to train as hard, but to go from little muscle mass to a lot of muscle mass, you're going to have to get a lot stronger.
Even if muscular, strong exercisers reduce the weights and opt for higher reps and more isolation training, their "light" weights are still pretty damn heavy. Recently, Paul Carter said he would do just that. His definition of lighter weights? Over 180 kilos for barbell rowing and 265 kilos for deadlifting with fairly high reps.
Advocates of super slow training say that when you reach the point of muscle failure, regardless of what weight or movement speed you used, you end up recruiting all the fast contracting (stronger) muscle phases. They therefore argue that heavy training is not more effective when it comes to making a muscle stronger as it does not recruit more muscle fibers.
In reality, however, muscle fiber recruitment is only half the battle - if that. The firing rate of muscle fibers is more important in force production. The firing rate describes the frequency at which a muscle fiber "twitches" or contracts to produce force within a specific time window. And to train and increase the capacity for a higher firing rate, you need to move heavy weights or move weights explosively - two things you won't find with slow training.
2 - Super Slow minimizes force production
Super slow means keeping any acceleration of the weight as minimal as possible. And because you're moving the weight so slowly, you can't use heavy weights, which means a low mass factor. So both the mass factor and the acceleration factor are low, resulting in probably the lowest possible force release when training with weights. You could also call this type of training low force release training instead of super slow.
And what is the problem with a low force release? A low force release means that the fast-contracting muscle fibers that tend to grow the most are not activated. But wait - the super slow advocates say that when you reach the point of muscle failure at the end of a set, you also reach full muscle fiber recruitment because your body needs to recruit more muscle fibers to compensate for the exhaustion of the already recruited fibers. This is true, of course. But until you have fatigued the muscle fibers enough that your body is forced to recruit the fast contracting muscle fibers, you will not be using these motor units, which have the greatest potential for hypertrophy and strength gains, for the majority of the set. Performing super slow reps to muscle failure may allow you to recruit the fast contracting fibers for 1 or 2 reps of your set, but if you move heavier weights and focus more on acceleration, you will produce much more force and will recruit these fast contracting muscle fibers for virtually all reps of your set.
And to reiterate, super slow will not improve the firing rate of your motor units. It might even train your body to use a low rate of fire to move the weight, which could make you weaker when trying to move maximal weights or move heavy weights explosively.
3 - Super Slow will deplete your muscle glycogen reserves faster than other types of training
After about 12 seconds of intense effort, your body will start to use glycogen. The longer a muscle has to produce force, the more glycogen it will use. A slow set performed to muscle failure can last up to two minutes (although the average duration may be 75 to 90 seconds). This will burn a lot more glycogen than regular exercise.
Why is this important? Using glycogen and depleting glycogen stores increases AMPK levels, which inhibit mTor activation. MTor is basically the switch that activates protein synthesis. The more you deplete your glycogen stores, the more you risk inhibiting protein synthesis.
4 - With Super Slow, every set becomes a mental battle
This form of training is difficult to sustain in the long term. I like hard work, but super slow reps to muscle failure are agonizing. Trying to tolerate this pain can make you hate your workout. Loving your workout and being motivated to train is very important when it comes to getting maximum results. Many will fool themselves after a few weeks of super slow training and not really push themselves to muscle failure, negating any results this method might produce. But training sessions are not meant to be a test of mental toughness. There are no extra points for enduring the most pain. Only the results count. And it's hard to maintain good focus for 90 seconds (or more) when you're performing a set of an exercise.
5 - Super Slow is not really feasible with the heavy multi-joint exercises
Strictly speaking, Super Slow is not feasible with most free weight exercises (it was originally developed for training with machines). Performing Super Slow on leg extensions to muscle failure is one thing. It's uncomfortable, but it can be done. However, doing a super slow set of squats or deadlifts to the point of muscle failure will not only move you up a few points on the pain scale, it can also be really dangerous.
With these heavy exercises, your posture will give way long before the primary muscles involved. You will start to lose body tension and perform many repetitions of squats or deadlifts with poor form before the legs and gluteus reach the point of muscle failure.
This makes these exercises less effective as you are now forced to use lighter weights and when you reach the point of muscle failure, this is not even the point of muscle failure of the muscles you are trying to build. So you have all the disadvantages without any of the theoretical benefits. And the fact that body tension and exercise form will decrease can obviously lead to injury.
A good use for Super Slow
There is one scenario in which you can use Super Slow effectively: when you are trying to improve the mind-muscle connection for a specific muscle or isolation exercise. In this case, it would be a temporary use, as once you can feel the muscle working, further training of this type is no longer necessary.
It is foolish to intentionally try to move weights with minimal force production. There is no doubt that you can construct good evidence for the effectiveness of Super Slow using studies, but I trust real world results more than isolated studies.
- TIP: Build shoulders with pain and acid
This press exercise complex will get lactate (lactic acid) flowing like a raging river - just what the shoulders need for hypertrophy.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-your-shoulders-with-pain-and-acid
The shoulders need plenty of time under tension to grow. This means longer sets with lighter weights. During shoulder training, you should primarily focus on stimulating maximum lactate accumulation in the target muscles. You will need a high pain tolerance for this. Lactate accumulation through muscle work is maximized when the muscle is under tension for 45 to 70 seconds. This exercise complex will take care of this.
The multi-pressure exercise complex
This complex consists of 6 different pressure exercises. We go from the weakest to the strongest exercise - a concept known as mechanical descending sets. The goal is to complete 5 repetitions of each exercise, but don't worry if you only complete 3 or fewer repetitions of an exercise towards the end of the complex. For this complex, perform the following exercises one after the other without resting.
- A. Seated muscle snatch or barbell cuban press
- B. Seated neck press with wide grip
- C. Seated neck press with shoulder-width grip
- D. Savickas Press (shoulder press sitting on the floor with straight legs and without back support)
- E. Bradford Press (standing)
- F. Push Press (standing shoulder press with some momentum from the legs)
Perform 3 sets of this complex with about 90 seconds rest between sets.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-dont-judge-a-workout-by-its-length
Here is a brief summary:
- The term beginner gains refers to the rapid increase in muscle mass that occurs when people with little or no experience training with weights begin to perform resistance training.
- Most men who are just starting to train with weights can expect to gain between 10 and 12 kilos of muscle during their first year of training, while women can expect to gain about half this amount. After these initial gains, however, progress slows dramatically.
- Even if you've been following a poorly designed training program or diet, you can still make beginner-like gains even if you've been training for several years (read on to find out how).
If you've just started exercising, then I envy you. You have an advantage that I and every other experienced exerciser will never have.
You might be wondering what this advantage is. In a nutshell, it is the ability to build muscle quickly. The sad truth is that experienced gym bunnies have less chance than a snowflake on the sun of building more than five pounds of muscle in a year (and that five pounds is already very optimistic).
For you, however, this is great news.
Why?
Well, if you've never trained with weights before, have just started training, or have made little progress since you started training, then you can build muscle a lot faster than I can.
If you're skeptical now, I can understand that.
- Maybe you think you're a "hardgainer" whose destiny is to stay lean and weak
- Maybe you think you've already built every milligram of muscle your body has to offer and that your only hope of becoming more muscular and stronger lies in the use of banned performance-enhancing substances
- Maybe you think you won't build muscle or strength if you start working out with weights because your cousin's boyfriend's babysitter said it didn't work for him.
Well, I would bet all my stinky workout socks and all my stained workout shirts that none of this is true. I've worked with countless people who thought something similar and all of those people became more muscular, leaner and stronger after following my advice.
And those who really got their diet and exercise regimes on track achieved most of their gains within the first six months. Often they did this while gaining very little body fat or sometimes even losing fat.
This is the phenomenon referred to by exercisers as 'beginner gains' and there are many conflicting opinions on the subject online. Some say that even though some people can make beginner gains, others are not so lucky.
Others say that more or less anyone can build truckloads of muscle and little or no fat while eating whatever and however much they want, as long as they pulverize their muscles with weights. Still others say that you can only make beginner gains if you're an absolute beginner, but will be out of luck with this if you've been training for a while.
Who is right?
Well, both groups are right and wrong. The truth is that if proper training and nutrition are new to you, you can build more muscle during your first year of training than you ever will again in your life. However, it's also true that it's easy to bypass this productive phase if you make some common mistakes.
In this series of articles, you'll learn the following:
- What beginner gains are and what causes them.
- How much you can expect to build during this beginner growth phase.
- Why beginner gains will always come to an end.
- Whether you can miss beginner gains
- How you should train and diet once your beginner gains are over.
Let's start by defining what exactly beginner gains are.
What are beginner gains?
The term beginner gains refers to the rapid increase in muscle mass that occurs when people with little previous weight training experience start training with weights. Typically, these people are also able to build muscle quickly while gaining very little fat or in some cases even losing fat.
This happens because your body is overreactive to the effects of resistance training when such training is new to it. As a result, when you're just starting to train with weights, you can build muscle much faster than you would after years of training.
For reasons we'll get into in a moment, beginner gains tend to last for about a year, with much of that progress coming during the first 6 months after you move your first barbell. If you play your cards right, this first year of training can be one of the most productive you'll ever experience. However, if you play your cards wrong, you won't make that kind of progress.
Let's start on the positive side and look at how much muscle mass you can expect to build during your beginner phase if you do everything right.
How much muscle can you build during your beginner gains phase?
Sadly, there is very little research on how quickly you can build muscle as a beginner when training with weights. There is also little research that has looked at how much muscle mass you can hope to build over your lifetime. In addition, the little research that does exist on these topics suggests that the ability to build muscle can be highly variable.
A study conducted by scientists at Indiana University sheds some light on the question of how much muscle you can build as a beginner (1). In this study, the scientists had 585 untrained men and women perform bicep curls with their non-dominant arm for 12 weeks. During their training sessions, the subjects performed 3 sets of curls, starting with a weight they could perform 12 repetitions with before reaching muscle failure and increasing the weight until they could only perform 6 repetitions.
The study does not mention how often the subjects performed this workout, but they probably performed it once a week. The scientists documented strength and biceps muscle mass using an MRI before the study began and after it ended.
On average, the subjects' biceps grew by 19% and their 1RM weight (the maximum weight with which a technically correct repetition can be performed) increased by an average of 54%.
However, when looking at the individual data of each subject, it is noticeable that not everyone achieved the same results with these training sessions. Some subjects' biceps became slightly smaller and one subject's biceps grew by as much as 60%, which is three times the average growth. Some of the subjects experienced no strength gains, while one person increased their strength by 250% when doing bicep curls.
As you can see, some people experience far greater beginner gains than others, but almost everyone experiences a rapid and substantial increase in mass and strength when they start training. So instead of picking apart the few studies that exist on this topic and trying to construct an answer from them, we can also turn to expert opinion and real-world experience for more useful answers.
And when it comes to experts, few have more experience when it comes to estimating the ability of novice exercisers to build muscle than Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon.
Let's look at their conclusions first and then take a look at another method I've developed.
Lyle McDonald's answer
Lyle McDonald is a well-known author and researcher on training and nutrition, and runs BodyRecomposition.com - one of the best resources for in-depth background knowledge on these topics that the web has to offer.
Here's Lyle's estimate of how much muscle mass you can build in a year:
|
Years of Proper Training |
Potential rate of gains per year |
|
1 |
20 to 25 pounds (2 pounds per month) |
|
2 |
10 to 12 pounds (1 pound per month) |
|
3 |
5 to 6 pounds (0.5 pounds per month) |
|
4+ |
2 to 3 pounds (0.25 pounds per month) |
His formula is based on his extensive research of the professional literature and experience with countless clients he has helped improve their body composition. Based on what he has read and seen, he estimates that men can gain between 20 and 25 pounds of muscle (about 2 pounds per month) during their first year of proper training. Keep in mind that he's talking about 20 to 25 pounds of pure muscle mass, not just 20 to 25 pounds of weight gain.
A common misconception among novice exercisers is that any weight gain after starting a resistance training program is muscle. This is the reason you'll often hear beginners say they've gained 40 or 50 pounds of muscle during their first year of training.
Of course, this is not true. In reality, they've gained 40 or 50 pounds of body weight, half of which, if they're lucky, is muscle, while the other half is a combination of body fat, water and glycogen (and if they make some of the mistakes we're about to talk about, most of the weight gained could be fat).
Lyle estimates that women can build about half as much muscle as men during their first year of training, which equates to 10 to 12 pounds of muscle (or about 1 pound per month).
Alan Aragon's answer
Alan Aragon is a published scientist and fitness consultant who has been developing nutrition and exercise programs for over 20 years. Based on what he has observed in his work with people ranging from average gym goers to Olympic athletes, most men can build muscle at the following rate:
As you can see, Alan's muscle-building program is based on gaining a percentage of your body weight per month. Of course, this is only accurate for people who are relatively lean or have a body fat percentage of 10 to 20% (for men) or a body fat percentage of 20 to 30% (for women). This is because a 1% increase in body weight for a person with a healthy body weight will be much lower than a 1% increase in weight for a 180 kilo obese person.
Here is an example of how this formula works:
When I started training with weights, I weighed about 64 kilos with a body fat percentage of 10%. According to Alan's model, I could expect to gain 0.64 to 0.96 kilos of muscle per month, which is similar to Lyle McDonald's conclusions. (However, I only gained just under 5 kilos of muscle during my first year for reasons I'll get to in a moment).
Last but not least, I would now like to go through my model.
Armi's answer
Lyle and Alan's answers will be accurate for most people and they are usually what I refer to when people ask me what they can expect when they start training with weights. However, some people are looking for more precise answers (whether they need them or not), so I'd like to share a slightly improved and more accurate formula for estimating your ability to make beginner gains.
This formula is based on Casey Butt's physique model of muscle gains, which states that the amount of muscle mass you can build over your lifetime depends on the size of your skeleton. This model is probably the most accurate model for estimating your ability to build muscle.
Once you have this figure to hand - how much muscle mass you can hope to build over your lifetime - you can put the cart before the horse and estimate how much muscle mass you can expect to build at different times in your muscle building career.
Based on my experience, people who do everything right in terms of their training and nutrition can realize about 50% of their potential lifelong gains during their first year of training. In the second year, you can achieve about half the gains you can achieve during the first year. In year three, you can achieve about half the gains of year two, and so on.
You may now be wondering whether you won't reach your genetic limit for muscle growth after enough years of training. The answer to this question is both yes and no. There is an absolute maximum amount of muscle mass you can build over the course of your life, but this is a variable value and science is not entirely sure whether the gains actually stop or are simply too slow to be reliably measurable.
You can think of muscle gains as similar to Zeno's measurement paradox - also known as the dichotomy paradox. This little thought experiment explores what would happen if you took a series of continuous steps forward towards a wall, with each step being half the distance to the wall.
So if the wall is 3 meters away, your first step would be 1.5 meters. The second step would be 0.75 meters and the third 0.375 meters. If you were to plot the distance to the wall as a curve after each step, the curve would be an asymptote, which means that the curve would get closer and closer to the zero line (which corresponds to contact with the wall), but the curve would never touch this line.
The whole thing would look something like this:
If you want a good model for beginner gains, replace the word curve with your ability to build muscle and the word asymptote with your ultimate genetic potential for muscle gains.
While I don't have formal data to prove this, based on my observations muscle gains follow a similar pattern to Zeno's measurement paradox. This would also help explain why experienced exercisers are able to make gains even when they have been training perfectly for many years and their body weight has been stable for years. In reality, even experienced exercisers can probably continue to make small gains in muscle mass, but they are simply too small to be easily measured or seen at first glance.
Now that we've cleared that up, let me show you how to use this model to estimate how much muscle mass you can gain during your first year of training and in the years after.
- First, roughly estimate your body fat percentage. When I started training, my body fat percentage was around 10% and I weighed 64 kilos, so I will use these figures for this example.
- Next, estimate how much lean body mass you are carrying around by subtracting your body fat percentage from 100 and dividing the result by 100 to get a decimal factor. In our example, 100 - 10 = 90 and 90 divided by 100 gives a factor of 0.9. Multiply this factor by your total body weight. In my example, this is 64 kilos * 0.9 = 57.6 kilos of fat-free body mass.
- Next, estimate how much muscle you can expect to build over your lifetime using one of the Casey Butt Natural Muscular Potential online calculators (here http://fastfoodmacros.com/Maxiumum-muscular-potential-calculator.asp or here: http://weighttrainer.net/bodypred.html). You will need your wrist circumference (Wrist Circumfence) and ankle circumference (Ankle Circumfence). Enter 0% as your body fat percentage. Using my values, this calculator resulted in a maximum value of 82 kilos of fat-free body mass
- The next step is to subtract your current lean body mass from this value to estimate how much muscle mass you can build over the course of your life. For me, this resulted in 82 - 57.6 = 24.4 kilos of muscle mass.
- Next, multiply this value by 0.5 (50%) to estimate your potential beginner gains during your first year of training. For me, this resulted in 24.4 * 0.5 = 12.2 kilos of muscle mass. If you want to estimate your muscle building potential for your second year of training, then multiply these 12.2 kilos by 50%, which gives you 6.1 kilos of muscle mass.
Graphically, my potential gains for the first 7 years would have looked like this (weight is in pounds):
I would take this even a step further and say that the majority of your gains during the first year of training will tend to occur during your first six months of training. A trainee with average genetics could expect to gain between 5 and 7 kilos of muscle within the first six months (which equates to 0.8 to 1.2 kilos per month). During the following 6 months, his gains will probably be more in the range of 2.5 to 5 kilos (0.4 to 0.8 kilos per month).
Even though you won't be building muscle at breakneck speed during the second 6 months as you did during the first 6 months, 0.4 to 0.8 kilos of muscle gain per month is still exceptional progress, so it's fair to say that your beginner gains will last for about a year.
In the next part of this article series, I'll go into more detail about why many exercisers report larger gains during their beginner phase and why beginner gains end after about a year.
Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/newbie-gains/
By Amistead Legge
High density training: 5-4-3-2-1 with 70% of 1RM
Heavy Density Lifting - HDL for short - is a harder form of rest-pause training that works surprisingly well. Here's how it works:
Load a bar or machine with a weight you can move ten times. This is about 70% of your 1RM weight. You use this weight for the entire set:
- Perform 5 reps, put the weight down and pause for 15 seconds
- Perform 4 repetitions and pause for 15 seconds
- Perform 3 repetitions and pause for 15 seconds
- Perform 2 repetitions and pause for 15 seconds
- Perform one final repetition
This is one set. Each set ends with you having performed a total of 15 repetitions with a weight that you could have only performed 8 to 10 regular repetitions with, which makes it clear why this is one of the best mass building techniques.
Do no more than three of these monster sets per training session. You should also not do more than three workouts in a row using this technique, as even though it is effective, it is very demanding and stressful on the body.
Build your trapezius with overhead shoulder raises
You won't see many people using this exercise. Of course, you won't see many people with excellent trapezius development either.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-traps-with-overhead-shrugs
Overhead shoulder raises (shrugs) are an exceptionally good trapezius building exercise and are a great way to increase your capacity to hold weights at arm's length.
Overhead shoulder raise:
- Hold the bar up overhead as if you just performed a repetition of barbell shoulder presses. A wide grip works best.
- Stretch your trapezius by moving your shoulders down. Keep your arms hyperextended and the bar overhead. Keep your core tight and tense.
- Move your shoulders upwards by tensing your trapezius. The shoulders must move upwards in a straight line. Hold the highest position for two seconds.
Use this exercise as a finishing exercise for your shoulder or trapezius training with higher repetitions in the range of 20 repetitions.
Use cluster sets for mass & strength
Cluster sets have always been an excellent exercise for strength gains. Here's a new variation that will also maximize your hypertrophy.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-use-cluster-sets-for-size-strength
Cluster sets are one of the most effective training methods for intermediate and advanced exercisers. A typical set looks like this:
- Load the bar (or machine) with 90% of your max weight, which is a weight you can normally perform 3 reps with.
- Perform one repetition and place the bar in the rack. Pause for 10 seconds.
- Perform another repetition and place the bar in the rack. Pause for 10 seconds.
- Continue in this way until you have reached the maximum number of repetitions you can perform, which should be between 4 and 6 repetitions.
Regular cluster sets can shine when it comes to muscle damage and mechanical stress, but they leave out the other two hypertrophy pathways: growth factor release and the mTOR pathway. So if you want to make cluster sets even more effective, you should include these two elements. This works as follows:
A cluster set for maximum growth
Starting weight: 100 kilos
All repetitions are performed with a 4-second lowering or eccentric phase:
- 1 repetition, pause for 10 seconds
- 1 repetition, pause for 10 seconds
- 1 repetition, pause for 10 seconds
- 1 repetition, pause for 10 seconds
- 1 repetition, no pause
After this, immediately reduce the weight to 70 kilos. Then perform 8 to 10 repetitions with constant tension - controlled tempo, no maximum extension of arms or legs at the highest point.
This final descending set is what really makes the muscle growth potential of cluster sets skyrocket.
What weight should you use
The weight should be 85% of your 1RM weight or more. In the beginning you will probably need to use a little less weight to get used to the intensity, but under no circumstances should you use less than 80% of your 1RM weight. Work your way up until you are able to do 85 to 90% on all your sets.
How long should you rest
Cluster sets for maximum growth end with repetitions of constant tension, which will lead to an intense accumulation of metabolic products, which in turn will hinder maximum force production until the muscle has recovered sufficiently. The use of longer rest intervals is imperative under these circumstances. You may perform less on subsequent sets, but you should remain at the same starting weight. If necessary, you can perform one less cluster repetition (e.g. you can go from 6 to 5 or from 5 to 4 repetitions). This is perfectly fine as long as you stay within a repetition range of 4 to 6 with the correct weight.
How many sets should you do?
Unlike classic cluster sets, which require around 5 sets, with cluster sets you only need 3 sets for maximum growth.
Exercises
You can use this method with any exercise. Some people may assume it only works with heavy multi-joint exercises, but it works with any exercise - even curls on the machine.
Build your grip strength with deadlifts with increasing weight
This method for increasing grip strength is completely insane, but it works amazingly fast
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-your-grip-with-deadlift-ramps
Grip strength is always important, especially when you're training snatches, deadlifts, deadlifts and pulls. One method of quickly developing a strong grip is the Goerner ramp.
Hermann Goerner was a strongman from the early years of the 20th century. Among other things, he was able to deadlift 330 kilos...with one hand. He also deadlifted 270 kilos with a two-finger grip. Can you imagine his grip strength?
To increase his grip strength, he used a continuous weight progression that looked like this:
The Goerner Deadlift Ramp
- Start by performing deadlifts using only the index fingers of your two hands. Perform sets of 3 repetitions and increase the weight with each set. Work your way up to the maximum weight with which you can perform 3 repetitions with just one finger.
- Increase the weight, but now use two fingers per hand. Continue to increase the weight with this grip from set to set with 3 reps per set.
- When you have reached your maximum weight for 3 repetitions with the two finger grip, use a three finger grip and continue in the same way until you reach your maximum weight for 3 repetitions.
- Then switch to a regular overhand grip (not a mixed grip) and work your way up to your maximum weight for 3 reps.
- From here you could continue the ramp by using a hook grip or a mixed grip.
This approach will significantly increase your grip strength within a short period of time. You will see dramatic results after just 4 to 6 training sessions. Use this technique twice a week for the fastest results.
Don't train every muscle the same way
Lower reps or higher reps? It depends on the muscle fiber dominance of the muscle in question. Here is a practical guide.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-dont-train-every-muscle-the-same
When it comes to isolation training, not all muscles respond best to the same type of stimulation. Muscle fiber dominance plays a role here.
The leg flexors, for example, are known to contain more fast-twitch muscle fibers than any other muscle. And the differences may also have underlying neural causes related to the type of movements each muscle contributes to.
Here are some observations about isolation training:
- Leg curls are best trained with lower repetitions. Even if you are doing direct hypertrophy training, you should keep the reps below 10. This mainly applies to movements such as leg curls and glute-ham raises. Exercises that involve hip extension can be trained with higher reps as the gluteus and lower back also come into play with these exercises.
- The quadriceps can be trained with a higher number of repetitions. Repetitions of up to 20 to 30 can be effective.
- The chest muscles respond well to higher repetitions.
- The triceps respond better to lower repetitions.
- The shoulder muscles generally respond better to higher repetitions, although the front shoulder muscle head can respond well to lower repetitions. This is the reason why shoulder dominant bench pressers tend to have large anterior shoulder muscles. However, if you are training to achieve that rounded look of the shoulders, then higher reps on isolation exercises are best.
- The middle upper back responds well to lower reps. Keep in mind that we're talking about a bodybuilding workout here, which means that "lower" means under 10 reps, not under 6 reps.
- The trapezius is a very strong muscle, but due to the short range of motion of most isolation exercises for the trapezius, you need higher reps (15 to 20) to grow your trapezius quickly.
- The biceps are best suited to medium repetitions. High reps tend to make them look flatter once the pump wears off, but very low reps are not effective when it comes to stimulating maximum growth.
The number of sets per exercise does not need to vary between the muscles you are targeting. - We are talking about more isolation training for one muscle. Regardless of the number of reps you use per set, perform 3 to 4 sets per exercise most of the time.
Perform only 4 intense workouts per week
Sure, you can train more than four times, but here's the reasoning behind why you'll make better progress if you limit the number of hard workouts you do to four per week.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-just-4-intense-workouts-per-week
Most people can only manage four intense training sessions per week. An intense training session has a systemic effect that affects the entire body, not just the muscles trained during that session.
A brutal training session will fatigue the nervous system and challenge both the immune system and the endocrine system, the latter of which is responsible for the actual hypertrophy response to training. The immune system is responsible for the macrophages/cytokines and the part of the muscle building process associated with satellite cell activation, which is necessary for the initiation of repair and growth.
The hormonal system plays a role in protein synthesis by ensuring that anabolic hormone levels are higher than catabolic hormone levels during the recovery phase. If the immune and hormonal systems are constantly challenged, you won't be able to build muscle at optimal levels - and you'll be more likely to get sick or suffer from low libido and depression. An overtaxed nervous system means that your performance and wellbeing will suffer.
A hard training session challenges all these systems. Too many of these workouts per week will lead to stagnation. You can do a short intensive phase of about three weeks, during which you do more intensive training sessions per week. But you can't do this in the long term and once this short high-intensity phase is over, you will need an unloading phase to be able to continue to make steady progress.
But I want to train more often!
You can. The above doesn't mean you can't train more than four days a week. It means supplementing the hard workouts with less demanding workouts. If you like to train almost every day, then you can do four hard workouts a week and add two or three less demanding workouts.
For me, these are either training sessions to regenerate the nervous system or low-volume bodybuilding/isolation training sessions with lower weights and higher repetitions. In these workouts I don't go to muscle failure and I've found that these workouts actually help me recover and extend the growth phase after the previous workout.
Sometimes we want to progress so badly that we make counterproductive choices. Doing more than four hard workouts a week is a good example of this. You can also train at a moderate level six days a week, but these workouts are difficult to calibrate correctly and can mean less than optimal results. If you plan to train really hard, then stick to the "four per week" rule.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-try-the-heavy-density-lifting-method
By Christian Thibaudeau
